Springwood father takes battle for lost son to Canberra

Springwood father Daniel Wass took his ongoing battle to find his missing three-year-old son on the road on Saturday, cycling to Canberra to increase political pressure to find a solution to his parental nightmare.

Mr Wass’s son, Sean Jukia Wass, has vanished in Japan after being taken from Australia by his former partner, Yuka, when he was just 14-months-old.

Despite numerous court orders, including a Find and Recovery Publication Order from the Family Court of Australia, Mr Wass does not know the location or welfare of his son.

His situation has seemingly been put in the diplomatic ‘too hard basket’ as Japan is not a member of the Hague treaty which deals with abducted children.

“In addition to Japan’s family law, Australia’s policy, procedure and assistance in international parental child abduction cases to non-Hague countries is very poor. It’s almost non existent to the extent there is a preserved reluctance to assist,” said Mr Wass.

He was due to meet with opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop when he arrived in Canberra yesterday (February 5) although the outcome of the meeting was not known at the time of going to press.

He also planned to present a petition supporting his case to Federal Member for Macquarie Louise Markus, who wished him well before he left Springwood early on Saturday morning.

The petition calls on the Australian Government to “take a stance, strengthening domestic policies and developing a bilateral agreement with Japan that facilitates the return of children who have been abducted from Australia until such time as Japan becomes a signatory to the Hague Convention”.

“In addition to Japan’s family law, Australia’s policy, procedure and assistance in international parental child abduction cases to non-Hague countries is very poor. It’s almost non existent to the extent there is a preserved reluctance to assist,” said Mr Wass.

It also requests the government take “immediate action to confirm the location, safety and welfare of Sean Jukia Wass”.

Mr Wass rode part of the journey with Ken Thompson, another dad whose child was abducted.

“I was lucky enough to have Ken join me at the 70km point through to Bowral (120km) and then the next day all the way to Goulburn,” he told the Gazette from the road.